On 12 and 13 September the Cercle Raymond Lulle (Toulouse) and the Centre d’Etudes Cathares (Barcelona) will be organizing a “Colloquium Convivencia” under the patronage of The Ritman Library. Basing themselves on historical and cultural sources, twelve speakers from four European countries will testify to the urgent need of an ethical, spiritual and material transformation of society, one in which cultural and religious diversity will prove to be an opportunity rather than an obstacle.

In their contributions, the speakers will focus on the inner traditions within the Christian, Islamic and Jewish religions, highlighting Catharism, sufism, kabbalah and Hermetism, and the values they have for us in our present lives. The speakers will also engage in dialogue with the audience during round table sessions.

Esther Oosterwijk-Ritman, director of The Ritman Library, will offer an insight into the timeless Hermetic worldview, according to which man is not just the ‘crown of creation’, for whose sake everything has been created ‘so that he may rule’, as it is said in Genesis I:26. Instead, man is one with creation and must care for it. It is an essential feature of Hermetic philosophy and part of the Hermetic synthesis, which still resonates today and appeals to more and more people who have come to realize that it is of vital importance to stop exploiting the natural resources of our planet.

On this occasion The Ritman Library will be launching three e-books of exhibition catalogues in French, the first of a projected series of e-books published by the library’s publishing house ‘In de Pelikaan’. The three catalogues are now out of print though still in great demand: Heleen de Jong’s Les symboles spirituels de l’Alchimie , Francois Secret’s Kabbale et philosophie hermétique and Frank van Lamoen’s La Gnose hermétique . These three catalogues originally accompanied exhibitions organized by The Ritman Library in 1988 and 1989 for the Salons du Livre. These Salons were a much valued part of the annual ‘Festival International de la Pensée Traditionelle et de l’Esoterisme’ in Carcassonne, one of the major historical Cathar strongholds in the Languedoc.

The principle of ‘Hermetic Synthesis’ is the operative principle in The Ritman Library’s new phase of existence: to bring together people, ideas and initiatives, to encourage them to exchange, contribute and be inspired. For more information:see the blog Hermetically open on this blogsite.